Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-12-08
JAPANESE wEDprNe.-The entertain

ment given by the ladies of the Metho-
dist church, combining variety of at
fractions, was held, as announced, in
Hyde's Hall last Friday evening. A
small part of the hall had been reserved
for the supper tables and for booths, but
the remainder was seated as usual and
every seat was occupied, while in the
back of the room the ''stand up seats
were also crowded. The japanese we'd
ding, which was celebrated with all the
native ceremony, was very solemn
affair. However hasty the prelimi-
naries to such wedding may be, there
is ample time for reflection during the
ceremony, time indeed for entire
change of sentiment, if sentiment ever
forms the basis of such an arrangement
The bride and groom were represented
by Mr.. Harry Altizer and Miss Velma
Trowbridge; the brides parents by Mr..
Frank Wagner and Miss Nellie McKin-
ney; the groom's parents by Mr.. Ed.
jenkins and Miss Carrie Nathan; the
bridesmaids were Misses Bertha Morse,
Nettie. Oswald, Lena Oswald, Beth
Muesse, Cora Mckinney and Nettie
Woodhouse. The most important
parsonage of all is, however, the ''ge-be-
tween, in whose hands the rest are simp-
ly passive agents, this part was filled in the
most impressive manner by Miss Hess.
During the wedding no word is spoken
and in the most appalling silence the
peculiar rites are performed. The
ceremony consists chiefly in salaaming
and tea drinking. The go-between
prostrates herself before the guests; the
groom's parents, entering, PROSTATE
themselves before the guests and the
go-between; the brides parents before
the guests and the groom's parents and
the go-betwcen, and so on until they
are all fairly bowed in. And then
begins series of prostrationS, profound
and complicated. in which each one
bowed to everybody, and everybody to
each one, in way that would be fairly
dizzying if the evolutions were not all
made with the same lack of haste that
characterizes the movements of the
great planets. Considering the fact that
only thirteen persons are engaged in
the performance the number of
possible combinations is astonishing. 1t
was all gotten through with at last and
was succeeded by more prostrations and
tea, then tea and prostrations, cake and
prostrations, and again prostrations and
more tea. The groom's father presented
to the bride silver cup and drank with
her from a two spouted teapot, the two
mouths being applied to the spouts
simultaneously. And then began the diff
fcult task of dispensing with the same
number of possible and impossible coma
binations and still more profound obei-
sances. We can only give faint idea
of the peculiar telescoping, in which the
body seemed to be gradually sinking
into the floor, until with arms out
stretched and forehead on the floor the
depth of humility is reached and the
person begins to recover the standing
posture. The costumes were purely
japanese, and served to disguise the
wedding party completely, and the
actors maintained their gravity through
out in a remarkable manner. After the
wedding was over, supper was an
nounced and the tables were soon filled
The sale of fancy articles was carried on
on the other side of the room with
Japanese sales women behind the tables.
The affair was not only entertaining,
but profitable as well, netting the
society about $75.